The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality has blamed residents for illegal dumping after the deaths on Sunday of four children, apparently after eating toxic food from a nearby dump site.

Residents of NU30 in Motherwell blamed the municipality for the dump site after the deaths at the weekend of Asive and Alizwa Rhwayibana and Alunamda and Zintle Mqawu. The dump site is about 100m from the children’s shacks.

In response, municipal spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki told GroundUp the municipality always cleaned dump sites in all areas of the municipality. He blamed residents for illegal dumping.

“We always clean all dump sites. The problem is residents continue to dump, even in places where there are skip bins provided. People throw their waste outside the bins, even when they are not full. We urge them to dump in those bins to curb health hazard cases.”

But there are no skips in NU30 – and no rubbish collection services. Residents say the dump site has never been cleared.

However, on Tuesday municipal trucks cleared all the dump sites in NU30.

The mother of Asive and Alizwa, Nomthandazo Rhwayibana, said she feared that dumping would continue even after the clearing of the site because no skip or refuse bags had been provided.

Meanwhile, a resident of Motherwell NU10 pointed out that the dump site opposite the local clinic had not yet been cleared.

Police spokesperson Capt Andre Beetge said autopsies on the dead children’s bodies had been done on Wednesday. “Toxicology tests were done and samples sent to Cape Town. Cause of death will be then determined by the doctor.”

Stage 2 rotational load-shedding will kick in at 9pm on Wednesday and continue until 8am on Thursday.

Eskom said in a power update late on Wednesday afternoon that the cuts were being enforced due to the “loss of additional generation capacity”, which forced it to use emergency reserves extensively during the day to supplement capacity.

“These now need to be replenished to meet tomorrow’s electricity demand.”

It was the same scenario when the power utility announced late on Tuesday that there would be overnight load-shedding.

“In order to minimise the impact of the load-shedding on South Africans, load-shedding is scheduled at night to maximise electricity availability during the working day,”  said Eskom.

“The power system remains vulnerable and unpredictable, with breakdowns sitting at 13,543MW as at 4.30pm.

“In the event that we lose other generation units or are unable to bring back those that were out for maintenance, load-shedding may be implemented during the day. We will keep customers informed of the status of the power system.”

Police are investigating whether a 62-year-old man hacked his 57-year-old wife to death and then set himself on fire in their five-roomed home in Limpopo early on Wednesday.

Officers in Driekop, outside Burgersfort, responded to a house engulfed by fire and discovered the body of Magdeline Mahlokwane and the charred remains of her husband Phillip Mafalo inside the gutted property.

Residents from Ga-Mahlokwana raised the alarm after hearing the hysterical screams of children in the burning house.

“During further investigations, the police found the bloodstained murder weapon next to the woman’s body. A bottle containing the remnants of a flammable substance was also discovered in the vicinity,” said police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo.

“The police are investigating the possibility that the 62-year-old man allegedly chopped his 57-year-old wife to death, torched their motor vehicle and thereafter allegedly doused himself with a flammable substance in the house and set himself alight.”

He said it was not yet known what led to the grisly incident but domestic violence could not be ruled out.

Cases of murder, arson and malicious damage to property have been opened.

Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Nneke Ledwaba strongly condemned the incident.